Just One Day
by Icarusy
Summary: [SasuSaku sweetness] Sakura exchanges bodies with Sasuke for the day to save him with... many unexpected results. But then again, what could happen in just one day? [v. slight NaruHina, InoShika]
1. Just One Day: Part one

_**A/N:**_

Whoosh. My second fict. ::proud beam::

If you can call the just one short chapter the first fict, anyways.

This fict was directly before and after my Mock exams as procrastination exams and as a cure for writer's block. (It worked, in case you're wondering, though I managed to get writer's block on this cure-for-writer's-block fict. Go me.) It was also done as sort of a test drive to see what I would be doing wrong for my planned ficts. This took me agonizingly long to write, so I've decided to simplify my style for the upcoming fict. I have high hopes for that one. ::grins::

**IMPT Warning:** As this fict was done very jerkily over a period of _many _randomly scattered days, so be prepared for sudden mood changes. I'm not all that happy with the fict but I'm pretty sick of it (meant only to break my writer's block remember? And look how freaking looong it got) so I'm not bothering to really polish up on it _unless_ someone tells me too _plus_ point out the certain spots that need attention. But, I really hope you enjoy it.

And yes, I'm painfully aware this whole body-switching thing is pretty much overkilled. But hey, I gave it my best shot. Well, for most parts of the fict, anyway.

More info on other stuff below. Enjoy.

* * *

They were waiting for her answer. 

Drenched in the afternoon sunlight, Tsunade's office was lit in a cheery yellow colour as the sounds of the Konoha's noisy life permeated the room through the open windows.

It was almost ridiculous the way they were so tense.

She smiled.

"Of course."

Kakashi-sensei's back straightened from leaning against the wall and she could tell by the way his lone eye crinkled that he was smiling. Tsunade grinned in relief and proceeded to list the various instructions she needed to follow for the procedure to work. She listened attentively and made mental notes of the many, many rules. This was important to her, too.

Finally, after the whole schedule had been rehearsed at least five times, and the risks stressed repeatedly, she was free to go.

"Come back here at seven thirty tomorrow", Tsunade advised her, "and don't worry about Naruto. Kakashi will tell him there'll be no training tomorrow."

She nodded and turned to reach for the door.

"Sakura."

She startled and turned in surprise. It was the first time he had spoken since she was called into the office, even though he was the reason for the whole process. Onyx eyes, usually unreadable, reluctantly seemed to show a hint of... gratefulness? as they held hers.

"... Arigato."

* * *

Haruno Sakura yawned and sleepily banged the the unfortunate alarm clock off. 

Then, on second thought, she lifted the battered machinery and gazed blearily at the glowing numbers.

Ah... six thirty a.m.

What an ungodly hour to wake up at.

Groaning, she pushed herself off her warm, inviting bed and dragged herself to the cold, evil bathroom. With impressive fortitude, she forced her feet on the cold tiles and begin to freshen herself up for the day.

And what a day today would be.

She would be the first Mediator in over a century. She smiled weakly at her reflection. Somehow, she didn't feel as honoured as she should be.

_"Have you ever heard of... the legendary Lost Containment Seal?"_

Kakashi-sensei had asked her that but Tsunade was the one who elaborated. She could remember Tsunade's grave explanation of its use, and most of all, its risks. Till three days ago, the best information you could get of the Seal were brief descriptions of it in reference scrolls. Then, the Anbu squad sent to search for the rumored scoll had finally returned triumphant and weary from their three-year hunt.

It had taken a long time, and four of the village's precious hoard of Anbu, but it had been worth it. Believed to be created by one of the ancient sennins, the Seal had the power to restrain potent curse seals and other seals affecting the victim till it, or at least the power of it, was under the owner's control. Unfortunately, during the day-long procedure, the Seal would also evoke all the victim's memories. All of them.

The Seal would be immensely valuable to many ninjas in the village- Naruto and Neji would be obvious contestants, she thought wryly- but Kakashi had suggested Sasuke be the first. After all, it was only recently he had received that Cursed Seal from that terrifying... snake-creature and her sensei was uncertain of how long or how _much_ his own seal could restrain it.

Which was where she came in.

Besides requiring a whole day of careful planning and one very powerful ninja to perform it, the sufferer also had to remain in a very stable mental state. Constantly.

This is of course, was possible for one with great will power and better yet, who was very young. Experience, while a good thing as a ninja, was literally the killer here. Painful or poignant memories that caused strains on the sufferer's mental state would immediately jeopardize the already perilous procedure. And Sasuke-kun, who lived everyday to kill the man that made his childhood a living hell, was hardly the best patient for the seal to be administered on.

Which then called for a Mediator.

Sighing, she opened her wardrobe and carefully scanned its contents.

She needed to wear black. Apparently, it was one of the multiple suggestions the scroll provided to make the process as smooth as possible. Something about the "transmit of conditional responsiveness etc etc etc...", she recalled. In fact, Tsunade had expressed some concern over her distinctive strawberry hair and had even suggested- to her growing horror- that she dyed it black for the day.

Only temporary, of course, she had assured her.

_-HELL NO!-_

She had been about to protest weakly when to her- and Tsunade's- surprise, Sasuke, who had been silent the whole time, had shaken his head at Tsunade.

Even now, her cheeks reddened when she remembered Kakashi's sly knowing smile.

He had been the one to explain to her, his lethargic manner serious for once, how she was needed in the process. Tactfully, for they all knew the Uchiha survivor was listening, even if he seemed not to, he had explained the chances of Sasuke's mental stability staying calm and why hers probably would.

You had a happier childhood, he had said softly, while his... was different.

They needed a Mediator, as the scroll once again suggested, who would serve as the stable mental support the Seal needed. Quite simply, she would... switch minds with Sasuke. The eternal student in her appreciated the practical logic in it. While Sasuke's body would undergo the Seal's power, she would be the mind that was in it- providing the essential mindset it needed. And since she fulfilled the requirement of being the same age and was familiar with him, she was the best pick. She wouldn't be hurt- so long as _she_ stayed calm- but she would have to recall every one of her memories: painful, joyful, cherished, trivial. Every one.

Just think of it as a ten-hour body switching period, her sensei had grinned, you would even get a lunch break. But beneath his lighthearted manner she could sense his anxiety at her reaction, her answer. She hadn't even hesitated.

_Of course._

As long as it would help him, she would do it. As long as he might remember her more for it, she would do it. Even if she had to surrender her body for another for a day.

Later, Kakashi had caught her when she exited the building.

Aa... Sakura, don't worry about it too much, he had said. As long as you stay calm, no one would get hurt... Sasuke would get most of the fatigue and temporary chakra loss anyway- you'll just be the transition branch...

Determined green eyes flashed up as she smiled and nodded. Then, after a brief hesitation, she asked the question that had been lingering in her mind.

He had been slightly amused, and showed it too, in his lazy way.

Well... you were chosen for all the reasons we told you, of course...

And also... because he asked for you.

This time he had been more amused at her expression.

Well... he said it was either you or Naruto... But, he added, seeing her crestfallen face, maybe it might have been more than that...

_It might have been more that that..._

Such trivial words, yet it had lightened up her mood and her day.

Sakura. Sakura?

She had emerged from her musing reverie to see Kakashi almost at the end of the lane.

Sasuke's going to be in your body for a while...

A quick grin.

Don't wear too short a skirt.

-----------------

Hmm. Skirt?

Sakura grinned, shook her head firmly and scrutinized her cupboard even more closely. If she chose a skirt, much less a mini-skirt, Sasuke would probably hate her for life. Though the reaction might be priceless...

-_AH HA!-_

Triumphantly, she pulled out a black shorts and shirt, both suitably loose. Then, after slipping them on along with her kunei pouch, she quickly made her way down and out of her house.

No breakfast.

That was one of the rules: no food during the first four hours. She breathed in the crisp morning air as she hurried along the path. The sky was still overcast in a depressing grey-blue and the light morning mist frosted the grass with glistening dewdrops. She was still early, but she'd rather be there early than late.

She had just turned the corner to where Tsunade's building was located when she saw she wasn't the only one who was early. Dressed in black with a red band tied around his forehead-once again, as the scroll instructed-, he had almost stepped through the entrance when he seemed to sense someone watching.

Fiery heat spread through her cheeks when his dark eyes found her and surprisingly, waited for her to arrive.

"Ohayo Sasuke-kun!"

Nodding absently, he appraised her clothes briefly before they both entered the building and started the climb up the stairs.

Sakura timidly watched him through her curtain of pink hair she let fall aside her face. Today, the Containment Seal would prove its worth for the first time in a century yet he still looked as unaffected as ever. She wondered if he ever felt the nervousness she was feeling now.

"What?"

Apparently, without taking his eyes off the ground, he had managed to catch her staring at him.

"Aa... I was just wondering..."

She faltered and was encouraged when he glanced at her. Well, at least he was still listening.

"Wh-why did you pick me?"

He barely hesitated before he gave a brief shrug.

"It was either you or that idiot... And he didn't have a happy childhood either... "

_Unlike you._

The unspoken words hung in the air. For once, Sakura wondered whether she could be more fortunate than her two male comrades after all. She had always envied their easy strength and stamina... But her sinking heart stemmed more from the fact that he had chosen her only for practical reasons. She bit her lip. So Kakashi-sensei had really only been kind to her. After all, her sentiments concerning Sasuke were hardly private...

-_Damn me and my idealistic imagination_...-

Dark eyes swept over her while her inner misery unconsciously personified itself on her expression. A reluctantly guilty look, an inaudible exasperated sigh and then:

"And because... I trust you."

Sakura's beam lit up the gloomy stairway and persuaded an uncomfortable Sasuke that maybe, the admission might have been worth it.

Maybe.

-----------------------

-_Arigh_-

Her head was throbbing. Painfully. Through the haze, Sakura could groggily make out Tsunade's worried face peering above her.

_Ouch. Ouch. Ouch._

Her entire head really, _really_ hurt. It felt like it was being used as a drum. Make that a badly abused drum. In fact, the throbbing beats could almost block out the distant roaring in her ears. It didn't help that her body was aching all over in a strange, heavy way.

-_What happened?-_

Dimly, the last six hours flooded back to her in bits and pieces. They had entered the room, which had been suitably morbid in its gloom and walls of plastered scrolls. Then... Tsunade had ordered them to sit in a strange... circle? –her head ached even more with her unwelcome attempts to dig out more images- while Kakashi had finished the preparations. All she could remember after that was Tsunade ordering her to stay calm before oblivion had consumed her. For a fleeting moment, images- bright and colourful and wistful- skirted tantalizingly across her mind before reality made itself rudely known again.

"Good, you're finally awake. How do you feel?"

Tsunade broke her daze and gave her a tired grin. With a guilty start, Sakura realized the Sennin must be completely fatigued from working the Seal for slightly more than five hours. Forcing away her bemusement, she lifted herself up on her elbows from the floor she had been sprawled on and returned a weak smile.

"Hai... I'm feel-"

She stopped abruptly.

–_WHAT THE HELL...??!!_-

Something was wrong with her voice. Low, deep, and hauntingly familiar, it sounded like... Sasuke. To her mounting horror, the body she was in wasn't the one she grew up in either.

"Oh... my...god..."

A movement across the foggy room happily distracted her from these her terrifying discoveries... and rising hysteria. Pulled up from the floor by a weary Kakashi was... herself. Or at least, what used to be herself. Unique pink hair hid its owner's face from view, but not for long. Her-_His_ head soon snapped up, caught sight of her-_himself _across the room and she was soon staring into equally aghast- and disturbingly familiar- large green eyes.

Absently, a small voice in her head wondered whether that was how she looked when she was appalled.

-_Oh damn-_

Oh damn indeed. In her daze, she had forgotten one very important aspect of the whole process.

..._Just think of it as a ten-hour body-switching period..._

She was suddenly really, really glad she didn't choose wear a skirt, for Sasuke's sake. Heck, she was having difficulty adjusting to this body as it is. A grinning Tsunade pulled her up –_HOW DARE SHE LAUGH AT THIS!_- and the abrupt change in height nearly tripped her. –_Oh... lord_- She never knew how... muscular Sasuke was. It was a disorientating feeling- to mentally feel nothing different yet feel so out of place physically.

Automatically, her-his?-_her_ feet clumsily made its first few steps to where Sasuke and the jounin was standing. As her footsteps slowly grew more confident, her eyes were focused on, well, herself. And she could see Sasuke studying his approaching self too. She halted in front of him and for one unnerving moment, they were staring at what used to be their bodies.

Kakashi broke into their incredulous trance.

"Yo, Sakura? You and Sasuke can have a one and a half hour break now, but remember to be back here at two thirty sharp."

This, from a man who considered coming in two hours late instead of three a huge achievement? Sakura nodded, not trusting herself to stay calm enough if she heard Sasuke's voice _from_ her again. Apparently Sasuke was taking it better than she for he... _she_ looked calm enough already- green eyes devoid of emotion and hands already shoved in the pant's pockets. Black did become her, the little voice observed again.

"Oh yeah. Before I forget, Naruto is going to be waiting for you both in that Ichiraku ramen stall. He already knows you're in each others bodies."

Glaring at the her masked sensei's lazily grinning face, she realized just how very evil he could be.

"What? You told him? What if he tells others?"

Apparently, Sasuke wasn't taking this very well either, judging from the glower the jounin was receiving. Nor did he appreciate the voice change very much too, from his following look. It was unnerving to watch herself move and talk as a spectator; it was almost as if she had lost control of herself. Which, she glumly realized, she had. Literally.

Tsunade interrupted Kakashi's too-ready flow of lame excuses. "Never mind, we don't have time for that. You two just go down there and meet him. Kakashi and I need to rest before we continue. And," the Hokage suddenly grinned, "try not to drink to much water, ya? Don't want you two going to the toilet _too_ often..."

-_SADISTS! I'M SURROUNDED BY EVIL SADISTS!!!-_

Inner Sakura's scream went unheard as she blushed furiously. Or to be more specific, "Sasuke" blushed furiously...

_::Flash::_

Sakura blinked. Then, as the white spots cleared from her eyes, she followed the whirring sound to find Kakashi happily pocketing the camera.

"Uh... Sensei..."

Kakashi beamed cheerfully.

"Yes, Sasuk- Sakura?"

"What was that for?"

Kakashi was still smiling that disturbing jovial way.

"Ah... I knew with you in Sasuke's body, you would make him do things he never would. Such as smiling, talking, blushing, laughing, showing emotions etc etc. It might be a once in a lifetime thing. Don't worry Sasuke," Kakashi turned to give a fatherly pat on a glowering "Sakura's" head, "you'll thank me one day."

Sakura highly doubted it from the way the scowls were growing increasingly vengeful. In fact, she thought she recognized the expression. It was what she usually wore before she lost it and whacked her unfortunate yellow-haired teammate. Speaking of which, Naruto was still waiting...

Hastily, she grabbed the unresisting sleeve of herse-Sasuke and dragged him to the door.

"Ah...haha... Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-sama, maybe its time for you both to rest..."

Her newfound strength making it easy to tow a reluctant Sasuke to the door,- added by her rather light weight, she was pleased to note- she threw an apologetic smile backwards as she was pulled the door close. Or rather, "Sasuke" threw an apologetic smile...

_::Flash::_

Really, death would be too kind for that man.

----------------

By the time they had emerged from into the bright afternoon sunlight, Sasuke had already managed to compose himself and his killer instincts. So there they were, walking down the street as if it were a normal day: an emotionless pink-haired Sakura fully clad in black and seemingly _oblivious _to her long-time heartthrob beside her, and a panicky Sasuke, blue-black eyes nervously glancing askance at his shorter companion every now and then. And instead of Sakura trailing a little behind and to the side of Sasuke, it was the other way round.

Konoha was in for at least five weeks of solid gossiping.

"Sakura."

Sakura nearly stumbled in her agitation. She was, to say the least, a little edgy.Walking down the street to Ichiraku, their passage had already left various interested looks and whispered conversations in their wake. Not to mention the many knowing winks and furtive thumbs-up from unknown gossipmongers on the way.

_-Great. If he finds out, he's going to kill me. On the other hand, he's probably seen them and doesn't really care either...-_

She giddily wondered which was worse. –_Maybe everyone will jus-_ -

"Sakura."

His-_Her _voice, excluding the characteristic buoyancy, snapped her back into reality.

"Calm down. You're too nervous."

Irritable green eyes flashed up in her direction. For a split second, Sakura's mind struggled between the belief that she should be looking up _at_ Sasuke and the reality that she was _in_ Sasuke. Then, she watched herself blink, shake her head briefly and add:

"Try to act like me."

Inner Sakura flared immediately and Sakura, already stressed to the breaking point, tried to hold back her temper. Really, she did.

The street erupted with the never-before-heard-of sound of Sasuke's roar.

"_YOU_ ACT LIKE ME! How the hell are people supposed to believe you're me when you're acting like you?!"

"Sasuke" whirled around glared down at a surprised "Sakura".

"And of course I'm nervous! Look at me! Listen to _my_ voice! Recognize it?! _ITS_ _YOURS! _SO DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

"Sasuke" stuck his hands on his hips and continued to rage on his tirade to a bemused "Sakura'.

"Why don't YOU show some emotion! SMILE at people! And because _you're _Sakura and _I'm_ Sasuke now, _YOU _TALK TO ME!"

There was a glorious moment of silence as everyone in hearing range sorted out their bearings.

Then, because all things good must come to an end, Sakura's temporary insanity died down and she suddenly realized how loud she was.

And how many people on the street was staring.

And how many people had heard her, or actually, how many people had heard _Sasuke_ yell at Sakura, judging from the number of curious residents in nearby houses peering out.

"Oh. No."

"Sakura" groaned.

Then, to the baffled- and greatly fascinated- stares of the spectators, they watched a normally bashful Sakura determinedly drag a suddenly meek Sasuke down the street and round the corner. It said a lot for their self restraint that the whole street only burst into raucous gossip when they had disappeared from sight.

Strange things the usually unemotional Uchiha genius had said to his female teammate, indeed.

In fact, if you ignored the bizarre things he had yelled in the beginning, which must _of course _be from those darn teenage hormones- understanding nods all round-, _and _added in that he had... ah, been _emotional _because of her, you might almost say he... could it be? The gossipmongers strained their willing imaginations and came to one conclusion.

He _liked_ her.

And the whole street burst into animated babble once more.

Five weeks? Better make it ten.

---------------------

Naruto banged his head on the counter.

Ramen. Ramen. Ramen.

Everywhere was ramen. Dolefully, he looked at Chouji slurping up his enormous bowl of ramen. On his other side was ole Fuzzy Eyebrows heroically gulping down _his_ huge bowl of ramen, that mad glint in his eyes _again_. And further down the counter was Kiba, Hinata, the weird bug guy Shino, Tenten and even Neija for pete's sake- all of them with one nice, yummy, big hot bowl of ramen in front of them.

He nearly drooled. Oh wait, he _was_ drooling.

Life was just unfair.

First he came early, spent all his money on a tiny winy bowl of ramen- he stared pitifully at the four empty bowls heaped in front of him- and _then _all of them came and bought their own ramen to eat in front of him. Maybe he shouldn't have told so many of them about the whole- he scrunched up his nose- body switching thing. A small, long-suffering voice in the back of his head patiently told him Sakura would definitely convince him of that but was, as usual, drowned out by the more important consciousness of Naruto's mind.

Ramen. Ramen. Ramen.

Actually, he had just wailed about it to Hinata, whom he had met after Kakashi had broke the news to him. Something about how unfair it was Sasuke-bastard could spend time with his Sakura. She had been quite patient, he remembered vaguely, or at least, she didn't tell him to shut up like others usually did. But then annoying dog-boy Kiba had walked by, heard his not-too-quiet complaints and then managed to tell the almost everyone about it in half a day.

And so they all came. Kiba gleefully dragged his teammate Hinata and even Shino along for the show. Chouji came for the food and entertainment, dragging lazy guy Shikamaru along. Fuzzy eyebrows had came along to "protect my poor Sakura-chan!"-_Ha. Not when I'm here to do that, he thought grimly_- and to his ever-lasting amazement, even Neija had joined the ride.

Something about using his Byakugan for research, he dimly recalled. He had a feeling Sakura wouldn't be too pleased when she found out about almost the whole gang being here

No, that unheard resigned voice muttered, she's going to kill you.

Happily for him, the whiskered Hokage-wannabe continued in his blissful oblivion of his impending doom by being distracted by the stuff of dreams being offered to him.

Hinata.

Standing there with a barely-touched bowl of steaming _ramen_ in her hands.

Naruto could feel his tongue drowning in saliva.

"Na-naruto-kun... I couldn't fi-finish my bowl so I th-thought..."

The Hyuuga heir blushed deeply and lilac eyes shyly tried to meet her object of affection's eyes. Too bad all her courageous attempts to catch his attention were outshined by the bowl of noodles in her hands.

"Ma-maybe you want it?"

Hinata's cheeks tinted fiery red again as disbelieving large blue eyes slowly rose to meet hers. Maybe she had been wrong about his love of ramen after all, or worse, maybe he was offended? She berated herself silently for her mistake and hastily tried to correct it.

"If y-you don't want it, I understand. I di-didn't mean to-"

"ARIGATO HINATA! I OWE YOU BIG TIME FOR THIS!"

The ramen was eagerly- and carefully- snatched from the his saviour's hands and tenderly cradled before it was put on the counter. Naruto beamed at the blushing girl while snapping his chopsticks.

"Arigato Hinata! If you want anything next time, just ask me! I won't forget this when I'm Hokage! Arig--"

His next words were muffled by the waterfall of ramen flowing in his mouth. Ah... warm bliss, bliss, bliss.

Life was worth living after all.

------------------

Sasuke was not very happy right now.

And for a guy whose typical 'happy' days consisted of being able to plot his brother's death without distraction, that's saying something.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see _himself_ tailing him miserably. Good grief, didn't the girl know how to control her-_his_ facial muscles? He gritted his teeth and shoved his hands further in his pockets. Did she have to make him look so... so expressive? He glumly watched his face being pulled in a yet another pathetically doleful expression.

Guilt did not suit him.

Damn it, this body did not suit him.

Trudging closer and closer toIchiraku – and to Naruto's laughter, he darkly reminded himself- the pink hair that blew into his eyes sporadically kept making him start. It reminded him of his current... situation. How on earth did she train with all this hair in her eyes? As if on cue, another wisp of hair blew into his eyes. His large green eyes.

He shuddered inwardly.

This was very, very wrong.

_Remember who's the one that needs this, Sasuke. And who doesn't._

Sasuke scowled and blocked out Kakashi's drawling voice in his head.

He remembered.

He had been unreasoningly apprehensive of what her answer might be when they asked her, much as he hated to admit. Foolish, really, when everyone who wasn't deaf in Konoha knew of her devotion to him.

_Mindless devotion_, he added silently. If the girl was really as smart as she was supposed to be, she wouldn't be wasting her time on him.

Still, perhaps he shouldn't have treated her so harshly for her... unexpectedly outburst.

She did, after all, agree to helping him in a high-risk untried Seal-formation usually restricted only to jounin and above. He was grateful to her for that, at least. From how he treated her, she didn't owe him anything. No one in the village owed him anything, and he had been satisfied with the way it was. It was only she who seemed to feel obliged, for reasons not understandable to him, to keep doing him undeserved favours, keep trying to keep him _happy,_ if she even knew what happiness was to him.

He didn't like it.

He was in debt to her too much already, much as he denied it, and he didn't need unpaid for debts, even ifunacknowledged, to hinder his ambitions.

Maybe at Ichiraku, he could make up for it by... treating her to a meal or something, he thought resignedly, painfully aware of the inadequateness of the repayment. Hopefully she wouldn't pass out with ecstasy from that rare treat –_and in my body too, damn it-_ first.

Squinting his-_her_ eyes in the bright midday sunlight, he could make out the shape of the popular ramen stall just further down the street.

In fact, he could actually see Naruto in there chomping away with...

_Oh crap. _

Besides him, footsteps echoed to a halt and in his low voice echoed his thoughts.

"Oh... crap."

If Sakura's eyesight didn't fail him, he could see the dim shapes of a Chouji and Lee flanking the baka. Then, due to lack of space, the shop owner had put out tables and chairs for the Hyugga heir, the dog boy, Shino, a unfamiliar black-haired girl - he gritted his-_her_ teeth at the crowd- and even Neiji. And apparently even Shikamaru had managed to drag himself there, though only making it far enough to slump outside the store's walls.

_-That baka told everyone. I could- no, I **will** kill him. –_

He swung round abruptly, grabbed his still-staring dismayed self unceremoniously by the arm and proceeded to drag "him" back where they came from. After all, she was in it too.

"What- where are we going?"

He paused in his strides, turned around to face his bewildered image and nodded towards the shop.

"Away from here."

His disturbingly worried face confronted his green-eyed glares.

"But... They're all waiting for us!"

He tried to tear his eyes away from his dark pleading ones- oh god, why him-, failed miserably before he managed to force out an answer.

"Exactly."

Then, to his consternation, he watched his face gaze worriedly behind him at the damn shop, waver uncertainly, struggle between two mysterious decisions, then eventually set in a fatalistically determined expression.

That five seconds alone was more expressions then he showed in a week.

But the worst was yet to come.

"He" pouted.

Inwardly, Sasuke unleashed his non-existent sharingan. Outwardly, green eyes flashed dangerously and an appalled scowl formed on Sakura's face.

Dammit, he should have kept the Cursed Seal.

Though his haze of disbelieving horror, he could hear his voice firmly stating that they go down to the overfilled shop to not let down Naruto, their teammate. _-Why not? He retorted silently-_ It pleaded with him and offered up ridiculous reasons such as not disappointing their friends, though it may be... embarrassing.

His mind reeled from her unbelievable loyalty. –_And what friends?-_

Finally, he found his-_Sakura's_ tongue and managed to answer his hopefully awaiting face.

"You're mad."

Sakura looked crushed.

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it. We aren't going there. We act too much like ourselves in these bodies. And we just have to avoid them for about one hour. We don't owe them or the baka anything."

He shouldn't need to justify his actions to her. But she, well _he,_ still looked doubtful. He swung round and was about to walk off when she offered her last weak protest.

"Please, Sasuke-kun... as a favour? ..."

A favour? He hesitated. A favour to clear all debts? And it wasn't as if she was going to enjoy it either...

He had hesitated for too long. Sakura beamed gratefully and started to pull him down the street before he changed his mind. Resignedly, he could see their arrival wasn't going unnoticed. Shikamaru was already stirring from his spot and going in to inform the others

–_Damnit. We can't escape now.-_

Well, if this was inevitable, he could always try last resort damage control.

He glanced at the reluctant but determined "Sasuke" dragging him towards their mutual doom and sighed.

"At least try not to smile too much, Sakura."

-----------

Shikamaru groaned as he dragged his lazy arse off the ground and entered the noisy shop.

Lethargic he may be, but he was at least going to get a good viewing chair to watch the whole scene. And snooze in should Naruto and Kiba prove wrong about their claims.

He spotted a good seat- one good enough for viewing and far enough not to attract unwanted attention- and slumped next to Neiji. The pale-eyed genius quickly assessed him and focused his attention on the doorway, where two dim shapes in the bright light were slowly making their way to the ramen shop.

Everyone else seemed too distracted by Kiba and Naruto's loud antics and Chouiji preoccupied with his food to notice. Of course, he could always tell them but that was way too troublesome.

He yawned. This had better be good.

"NANI? NANI? WHAT'S THE BIG SECRET?!? KIBA YOU BET-"

Naruto's voice died down abruptly. Apparently, he had noticed everyone's sudden transfer of attention to the doorway.

Sasuke and Sakura had finally arrived.

There comes a time when a single, still moment arrives when all activity fades away as everyone is held captive by one unanimous thing.

This was it.

Shikamaru almost laughed.

So Naruto was right, for once. Even just standing there it was obvious both of them must have switched minds, or at least, switched personalities.

Strawberry-haired feminine Sakura was dressed all in black today, with hands shoved familiarly into her pockets and an annoyed scowl to match. Instead of her usual merry greetings and smile, this Sakura looked as if she was ready to kill. Sasuke, on the other hand, was looking embarrassed and fidgeting slightly- oh heavens forbid, the human ice-cube looking _embarrassed_-, one hand going up self-consciously to touch his hair and the other pulling at his own set of black clothing. And was it mentioned that _the _Sasuke Uchiha looked as if he was trying to hide behind an very irritated Sakura?

The dumbfounded stillness lasted about five seconds.

Then, not surprisingly, Naruto and Lee broke it.

"SAKURA-CHAAAAN!! WHAT HAS SASUKE-BASTARD DONE TO YOOOUU!?!"

"SAKURA-CHAN! HAVE YOU BEEN HURT IN ANY WAY??"

The ramen shop audience watched as Naruto, being the baka he was, leapt off his stool and bear-hugged an alarmed "Sakura". Lee was at least smart enough to direct his holler at a mortified "Sasuke", after a few seconds hesitation. Shikamaru swore he could see his eyes shoot pink heart shapes to his horrified object of affection.

"Arigh... baka! Get off me!"

_::flash::_

"Aa... haha... I'm fine Lee-san...."

_::flash::_

"SAKURAA-CHAAAAN!! I'LL PROTECT YOU FROM SASUKE-BASTARD!!"

_::flash::_

"Baka! I _am_ Sasuke!"

"You...are?"

_::flash::_

There was a brief moment of silence while the engaged individuals took a moment to sort out their bearings. And while the audience absorbed the scene before them. Namely, the mind-switch being real, "Sasuke's" weak smile, Lee's disturbing love-struck expression at Sasuke, "Sasuke's" weak smile, Naruto indirectly hugging his rival, "Sasuke's" weak smile.

_::flash::_

The Avenger's awkwardly smiling face was given another close-up by a gleeful Kiba.

Shikamaru predicted that by the end of the day, Kiba would be running a solid business to fangirls for pictures of the Uchiha's face.

At the moment, though, Naruto was too busy dawning upon the remembrance of the whole mind-switch affair to notice anything.

"Oh... yeah..."

A brief pause while a horrified Naruto gawked up into a glaring "Sakura" face.

"NARUTO NO BAKA!"

A deep roar thundered before "Sasuke's" fist connected with Naruto and sent him flying out of the ramen shop. While Lee was still partially in shock by being called Lee-san by "Sasuke", Sakura had finally noticed Naruto hugging... well, her body.

Unfortunately, in her untested new strength, her usual wallop of Naruto was much more heavy-handed and the poor boy was knocked unconscious down the street.

"Oh.... Oops."

Their audience stared, fascinated, while Sakura just smirked and a guilty Sasuke tiptoed to see if the whiskered troublemaker was alright.

If Ino was here, she would be in high heaven, Shikamaru thought dryly. An emotional Sasuke. Well, a fake emotional Sasuke, anyway...

He watched, mildly interested, as the pair then made as if they didn't notice the gaping crowd. Heck, even Chouiji had stopped eating. Apparently, their grand plan was to ignore their spectators. Sasuke had no problems with it, his, or to be more specific- _Sakura's _eyes flashing irritably over them, lingering a moment on an intently observing Neiji before his side faced them when he sat at the counter to order.

Sakura, on the other hand, seemed to have more trouble feigning carelessness. Though "Sasuke's" face was forced a blank, the darting dark eyes spoke differently and best of all, he was _blushing._

Shikamaru shuddered along with the rest of the males. A blushing Sasuke? So everything _is_ possible, it seems.

While "he" seated himself beside the real Sasuke, budding entrepreneur Kiba had already taken at least five shots of the fiery-cheeked Uchiha genius.

_::flash::_

_::flash::_

_::flash::_

The happy whirring of the camera and Kiba's chuckles filled the ramen shop. "Sakura" scowled darkly, "her" chin resting on mounted joined hands- a familiar Sasuke trademark gesture. "Sasuke's" blush deepened even more, and tried in vain to use the raven bangs to cover "his" face. It was obvious, however, that they had semi-effectively ended the show, at least for now.

Chouiji started eating again, with one eye on the pair, and a slowly, a chattering hum filled the shop again. Shikamaru yawned, stretched languorously and slumped down on the table before him. Well, it had been fun while it lasted. Too bad it ended so soon, for all his trouble of letting his teammate drag him along.

He absently watched the dissatisfied Hyuga beside him withdraw his Byakugan.

"So... What did you see?"

He didn't really expect his drawling question to be answered but Neiji, half distracted by still studying the pair sitting across the shop, answered shortly.

"Nothing. They don't show any differences at all." His brows twisted in frustration. "Even their chakra controls in the brain are the same. There's no connection between them to show they have any transfer of any sort."

Neiji suddenly seemed to realise who he was talking to.

"What do you think?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and avoided the piercing calculating stare the other was giving him. He watched "Sasuke" smile automatically at the serving girl, watched the girl redden in surprised delight, and watched the real Sasuke groan.

No connection at all? Interesting. That usually only meant the transfer was final and irreversible. Since it couldn't be possible for this case, it meant the level of Transfer jutsu being done was extremely high-class, and the any damage or accident that should happen would be permanent to all those involved. Could it mean they could be stuck in each other's bodies permanently?

He distantly watched Hinata quietly slipping out into the bright afternoon to where Naruto was no doubt rousing. It was a very real possibility. If that did happen, their mental and physical states would deteriorate gradually as the jutsu kept them trapped in their unnatural conditions. Their bodies and mind would just revolt against each other and their Chakra usage would slowly diminish. He was surprised at the risks those two were taking. What they were doing with the Hokage had better be worth it.

He came out of his thoughts to find the white-eyed genin still eyeing him with suspicion.

Shikamarua shrugged, banishing the notion of even bothering to explain the whole thing.

"No idea."

Neiji snorted. "In that case, I'm leaving. My business here is finished."

Leave? Why not? Shikamaru languidly considered the idea as the seat beside him vacated. Maybe he should leave too, if he could just summon up the will to get up again. After all, it wasn't as if anything interesting was going to hap—

"SASUKE-KUUN!! WHAT A COINCIDENCE!!"

_-Oh damn.-_

There was a flash of yellow and purple and the next thing anyone knew, a blond pony-tailed girl had thrown her arms around a choking Sasuke and squeezed him in a tight embrace.

Shikamaru groaned and flopped down on the table again. Even Kiba had enough survival instincts not tell Ino- a hot-blooded female- that her rival would be trading bodies with their long-contested object of affection for the day. It seemed that all Chouji's and his own half-hearted efforts to keep her busy today was going to waste.

Ino was going to explode if she found out, he thought moodily, and _I'm _going to get all the blame as usual.

His vivacious teammate was still holding on to a gasping Sasuke. "He" didn't look like he could breathe very well.

"Sasuke-kun! What a surprise to meet you here! Can I join you for lunch?"

Without waiting for a reply, Ino immediately pushed Chouiji away and plopped herself onto the seat beside "Sasuke", finally releasing him from her grasp. While Ino firmly moved a faintly protesting Chouiji, Sakura swept the stall- only Kiba, Chouiji, Lee and him left- with a warning stare. Obviously she didn't want Ino to know about her situation either.

Ino returned her full blue-eyed attention to "Sasuke" and flashed him her mega-watt smile. Shikamaru ignored the tinge of annoyance and watched as Ino leaned nearer and tilted her head up at the bemused Uchiha. Then, the Ino's dreams- and Sasuke's nightmares- came true.

Without thinking, "Sasuke" returned an automatic smile.

_-Great. Big mistake.-_

Ino looked as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun!! You finally returned my feelings!!"

The real Sasuke jerked up his head and glared as a overjoyed Ino enveloped a dismayed Sasuke with a hug. Sakura realized her mistake and tried in vain to keep a cold mask on while pulling away from Ino's unyielding grasp.

"Damn... no... go away."

Ino continued to blithely hold on to a struggling Sasuke and threw an aggravated looking Sakura a triumphant grin as she squealed on, "Sasuke-kun! I knew you had feelings for me!"

"No... I didn't mean it... let go..."

"Sasuke's" desperate words seemed to spur Ino on.

"Ah Sasuke kun! You don't have to hide your feelings anymore!" Ino beamed up at her harassed heartthrob, "I saw you smile at me!!"

Sakura had finally managed to free Sasuke's body from Ino.

Shikamaru watched intently.

He knew better than most how those two former best friends competed fiercely for the most popular guy in Konoha. Sometimes, he thought Ino simply strived so much after Sasuke just because of their personal rivalry.

_Though that may have just been foolish wistful thinking on my part_, he thought self-mockingly.

But right now, Sakura literally held the power to crush all of Ino's hopes and self-esteem. All she had to do was say a sentence or two and Sakura would be the be the sole competitor for the Uchiha's affection. At the corner of his eye, he could see Chouiji stiffen and stop in his eating to watch Sakura's reaction to their teammate.

It all came down to Sakura right now.

* * *

**_A/N_**

For various reasons, I have decided to split this initially long chapt fict into two parts. Read on, enjoy and review.

And yes, I know this is a weird place to stop.


	2. Just One Day: Part two

**Drunken Smiles: Part two**

Sakura was starting to panic.

Of all people she didn't want to see right now, Ino was top of the list. And of all people that was standing in front of her, intractable blue eyes and white smile beaming up at her, Ino it was.

Life was really unfair.

Trying to ignore Sasuke's glares burning into her back, she forced her-_his_ face into an emotionless mask and tried to intimidate Ino with Sasuke's trademark indifferently cold stare.

It wasn't working.

She could see Shikamaru's and Chouiji rolling their eyes in their seats and she grew even more frantic. Crap. She couldn't even imitate him, even in his body. Maybe she looked as if she cared too much. At least Kiba and Lee were too busy messing with the camera to really notice all this.

_- DAMMIT! I SHOULDN'T HAVE SMILED BACK!!-_

Still feeling awkward and ununatural in her new body, Sakura wildly tried to think of all escape routes. Ino was going in for the kill again; she could see it in the way those eyes narrowed and those twitching hands were preparing to trap her with another strangling hug. Dimly, she wondered if that was why Sasuke found all his fans- including her, she acknowledged guiltily- so irritating, among other reasons.

_-I have to act like him to throw her off-_

"Sasuke" thrust his hands into his pockets and gave Ino an irritated glance before half turning away. Desperately, she hoped she gave the impression of disgust and coldness

"You saw wrongly. Why would I smile at you?"

Keeping the monotone, Sakura continued in Sasuke's low voice, "Go away and stop disturbing me."

Through raven bangs, Sakura could see Ino's face waver doubtfully and start towards her again. Crap, Ino wasn't believing her. She needed to end this now before things got worse; she could already see Shikamaru and Chouiji looking as if they were going to be involved.

Panicking, she threw out the most hurtful thing the dark-haired avenger had ever said to her.

"You're... annoying."

Ino froze.

Distantly, while she watched Ino's face flush, she was aware of Shikamaru half rising from his chair, than dropping back to it again. She could sense Sasuke-kun pause in his meal. And outside, she could hear the background hum of Konoha's market and the faint shouts of Naruto coming from the shop's entrance.

But before her, her former best friend was being rejected. For one second, all the humiliation and crushed hope showed in those those familiar eyes as Ino, her best friend in her heart still, started to turn away. And in that second, she remembered how hurt _she_ had been when Sasuke had turned her down the same way, and the old closeness and compassion for her friend rushed up in her and without really thinking about it, she ruined Sasuke's reputation for the second time.

When her words were said, she quickly turned her back on Ino and took her place beside the image of herself so that the conversation between Ino and "Sasuke" would end. She caught sight of her green eyes watching her, unreadable and slightly puzzled, before Sasuke moved her face and the pink bangs covered herself from her again. She knew without looking that Ino's face was no longer crushed, and hid her smile when she heard Ino's exuberant greetings to her teammates.

To her, it was already worth it.

-------------------

Two fifteen.

Sasuke's eyes flickered at the watch and then at his day-dreaming self.

"Sakura."

He watched his head jerk up and turn towards him.

"We should leave now, just in case." He hesitated briefly. " I'll pay."

Watching his own face transform into a look of surprised happiness, he almost regretted his uncharacteristic generosity when that infuriating click and whirr of Kiba's camera was heard. Swearing inwardly for the fifth time to find and destroy that piece of equipment, he waited for Sakura to fish his money out of the clothes she was wearing and pay the cook.

They were just about to leave unobtrusively when Ino's voice called out.

"OI! Large-forehead girl!"

It took him a few seconds to remember this was what that girl called Sakura. They had a strange friendship, even for females.

Sakura had already turned around and her eyes pleaded with him to play the part. Sasuke resisted the urge to walk away. They still had time, anyway.

Ino came up to them and after a moment of uncertainty, "Sasuke" walked away with his hands uncomfortably forced into the pockets. The real Sasuke blankly watched a strangely awkward Ino give him a half-smirk, half-smile.

"Well... Large-forehead girl! Sasuke-kun obviously likes me more than you!"

Inwardly, Sasuke blanched. Outwardly, he continued to watch the space over Ino's shoulder and shrugged apathetically. After a few seconds of attentive silence, it became obvious Ino was waiting for his reply. Obviously, she and Sakura must have shared some sort of bantering that involved both of them sparring verbally with each other.

Sasuke forced his eyes to look into slightly mystified blue ones.

"Ah. Oh no."

Ino hid her perplexity with a victorious grin.

"You should give up now, Sakura-chan! There's no way you can beat me!"

She flashed him another grin and gave him a provoking victory sign.

Sasuke was frankly, baffled. The girl called Sakura over just for this? Impossibly pink hair flew into his eyes again, reminding him of his condition. He forced himself to try to act like Sakura would in this situation. He owed her that much, at least.

If only he had any idea how to reply.

"Aa... I see."

In the end, he compromised and shrugged again, this time more irritably. It had always worked with him as himself and there was no reason why it wouldn't work now.

In fact, Ino was starting to get worried. Sakura wasn't fighting back at all and all the uncharacteristic black she had chosen to wear today, unlike her usual cheery outfit, didn't help things. Something was obviously wrong, she thought guiltily. She changed tactics and tried again.

"Sakura-chan... you know what Sasuke-kun said?"

She searched his eyes for confirmation, which he reluctantly gave. Yes, he knew what _she _had said. It had surprised him, for he knew she had always hoped that someday, he would eventually be with her, and more. It was a foolish, childish wish of course, but her actions had still be unexpected. She was always too soft-hearted to be a rival.

Ino's manner was more serious now, her singular blond bang hooked behind her ear.

"I don't think... you're more annoying than me."

Sasuke startled.

She was comforting Sakura? Weren't they _both_ rivals? He had thought "his" words to this girl would delight her. After all, being told that one's rival was thought more annoying than one generally evoked smug satisfaction. His surprise didn't need to be feigned and Ino, reassured by his immediate reaction, smiled and carelessly threw her hands in the air.

"Ha! If anything, we're both as annoying! I'm not going to lose out to you in anything, Sakura!"

But her smile was warm and teasing and even in his pre-occupation with getting back to the office on time, he could tell this meant something special to the two girls.

This time, the words came easier.

"Arigato. I have to go now. I need time... to think."

"Sakura" turned and was leaving the shop when a call from Ino stopped him again.

"Oi big-forehead girl!"

He turned his head to see her shoot him a grin.

"You look good in black!"

Sasuke gave a half-smile and raised a hand in acknowledgement.

_-Yes. She did.-_

-------------------------

It was already seven minutes to two thirty by the time they were halfway to the building.

Sasuke had initially just briefly outlined what Ino had told "Sakura" but guessing that half the significance was lost to him- Uchiha or not, he was, after all, male-, Sakura made him retell everything Ino had said in detail. He seemed pretty surprised by the amount of happiness she got from those few sentences but then again, it was always nice to know Ino still cared.

Their brisk walk to the office had been pretty undisturbed thus far. After all, "Sakura" mostly talking, albeit in monotone, and "Sasuke" silently walking beside her, though actually _listening_, was not _too_ abnormal. However, the rest of the walk seemed forfeited to trouble if the growing thundering of the streets proved true to Sakura's suspicions.

From the far end of the street came charging a terrifying sight.

Sasuke's fan group had found him.

Or actually, "her".

Trapped in Sasuke's body, Sakura gulped. Did she ever look so predatory?

"Damn, we don't have time for this. We need to avoid them."

_Ha. Fat chance_, Sakura's inner voice commented. The fan girls were looking very determined not to let the notoriously elusive Konoha heartthrob out of their grasp this time. Sakura could already hear the faint war cries of "Sasuke-kuuuuun!! Waiit for uus!!"

She turned desperately to find Sasuke halfheartedly getting out her kunai from her side pouch. He had already set her body in battle stance.

"What are you doing?! We can't fight them!"

He shrugged impatiently in response.

"We can try to scare them, at least. That might give us time to get away."

Sakura's mouth dropped.

She looked at herself, pink hair streaming in the breeze, bottle green eyes agate hard and kunai expertly held in her hand. She looked at her slight frame, the black clothes that subtly outlined her form and at the fighting stance he had easily slipped into while automatically placing himself ahead of her. She looked at herself.

She sighed.

"It won't work."

He lifted one eyebrow at her casual dismissal and for some reason, the sight of a sarcastic her annoyed her even as she dreaded the fanatic love proclamations being squealed down the streets.

"They'll just think you're fighting over me too. I _am_ you, after all, and _you_ are me. Another fangirl fighting over... well, you." She winced and continued, "You'll just be able to delay some of them before the others get me."

As she glumly said this, a slow spark of an idea started to form as she stared at herself. Like she said, she was him and he was her....

She grabbed hold of his hands suddenly and pulled the kunai out. If this was going to work, the timing had to be right. She could already hear the thundering of the feet nearing them and the love squeals getting louder.

"Don't argue, just look at me. I know how we can still get there on time."

The green eyes hesitated and Sasuke tensed, but he didn't withdraw his hands. Instead, he just threw a glance over his shoulder.

"Fine. Hurry, they're almost here."

Sakura nodded and tried to keep an impassive mask on. In Sasuke's taller body, she moved closer to "Sakura" and made sure their joined hands were clearly in sight. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the fan girls slowing down as they saw their close positions. Sakura made sure to keep her-_his_ eyes down on "Sakura's" face and pretended not to notice the oncoming fan group.

She waited till they were all in good hearing range before she spoke.

"Sakura..."

Green eyes narrowed in suspicion but fortunately, was out of sight from the fanatic fan group behind. The group perked up their ears at "Sasuke" speaking to his female teammate and gradually slowed to a stop a few feet away, unsure of how to break the seemingly private conversation between them.

Then, the fan girls' worst nightmare came true.

Emotionless Sasuke Uchiha, every girl's detached crush and unwillingly Konoha Adonis, leaned down to Sakura Haruno (researched to be just an annoying teammate) and let the faintest hint of a _smile_ cross his handsome features.

The girls' mouths dropped. But then the bomb dropped.

Sasuke opened his mouth and in that much-fantasised-about-low-voice, asked the question every girl present had longed to be asked by him:

"Sakura... will you go out with me?"

Shocked silence from all.

_-HELL YEAH! LOVE RULES!-_

Inner Sakura exulted and let out peals of evil cackles. Yup, the looks on the each girl's face made everything that happened so far worth it.

_-HA! THAT'S FOR TELLING ME TO GIVE HIM UP TO YOU, ARIKI! AND YOU TOO HANA!-_

Ignoring Inner Sakura's gleeful listing of all who had trespassed her, Sakura struggled to maintain a decently straight face. Through the dark hair falling over her eyes, she could see rows of little black spaces as mouths dropped open. A Significant Moment for me, she grinned inwardly. Haruno Sakura: one, Rivals: zero.

However, she forced her gaze downwards reluctantly to see Sasuke's reaction. He wasn't going to be very happy about this.

Actually, he looked incredulous. Before he could speak and ruin the whole charade, Sakura hastily whispered, "Just say yes. They'll won't disturb us if you do. Its... a girl thing. Please... Sasuke-kun? We don't really have to go on a date...," she added lamely, seeing the skeptical look on his_-her _face.

Then, to her relief, for she could see the traumatized fan group starting to recover in hope of "Sakura's" unresponsiveness, Sasuke, after studying her face, rolled his eyes and played the part.

"Yes, of course, Sasuke... ..._kun_." "Sakura's" voice was light, and carried easily to the dismayed ears of the girls, "Let's go _now_."

The looks on the girls' faces were priceless. After a slight hesitation, for Sasuke had always led and she had always followed, she had walked with Sasuke at her side, through the fan group. She could sense him tense instinctively when they passed through, but all the girls- comically dismayed, adoring still, disbelieving- had parted silently and without protest to let them through. And they just walked through them- both dressed in black and looking as if the group around them didn't exist. It was only when they were a few feet away, with the slowly dispersing group staring at their backs, that she could feel him relax again.

"So... what happened?" Sasuke's voice was faintly curious as they raced towards their destination.

Sakura just laughed and ran ahead. Her relief and guilty delight that everyone now thought that she and Sasuke were an item- at least, till tomorrow- made her reckless and she tossed her head, missing the familiar brush of her hair against her nape. Of course they hadn't followed; it was an almost unspoken rule that all hands were off once the dark haired avenger was finally taken, if that was even possible.

"C'mon Sasuke-kun, I'll race you!"

Her temporary long legs and Sasuke's newfound light weight made it possible for them to reach the office only five minutes late.

---------------

It was already reaching eventide by the time they both staggered out of the building.

The sky was lit afire by the setting sun and dark figures mingled down the street- teams returning from trainings and common people packing up their stalls. And hell, was he exhausted.

Weird really, when he barely did anything, but he was almost out of chakra and he nearly collapsed when Sakura stumbled into him. He caught himself breathing in the perfume of her hair before he snapped out of it and unsteadily pushed her off. Damn, he really was tired.

At least they were finally back in their bodies again.

And it was good to be back. His movements and thoughts seemed easier, as if the unnatural body he had been in had somehow restricted the flow. And he was much more comfortable in his own body, in more ways than one.

His hand lifted instinctively to his where his curse seal was, now graced with a simple red band around it, and fingered it gingerly. The stinging had dulled along with the colour and by tomorrow, there should be no trace of the seal left. He pulled up the collar of his shirt grimly. If there the seal _was_ still there by next morning....

Sakura stumbled into him again, breaking up his bleak thoughts and causing him to catch hold of her for support. They were both weaving erratically up the thankfully mostly-empty street like a pair of drunkards. With a grunt of effort, he set the struggling pink haired kunochi straight and forced himself to walk on more steadily. Make that a pair of weary drunkards.

"Sakura," he managed to croak out, then cleared his throat. "Walk in front of me so we won't crash into each other. I'll catch you if you fall."

_If I have enough strength_, he silently added. He would have to make sure he did.

She was too fatigued to argue and moved ahead of him. In the dying sun, her short petal hair flamed into tinges of passionate pinks and red. Lightheaded from weariness, he watched the bright rose above the swaying black figure as he followed. At least his route home was roughly the same way as hers or he would have to walk twice as far.

Still, it was all in all, he thought distantly, a rather peaceful scene. The day and all its horrors were finally over and there would just be tomorrow to deal with. Evening breezes carried the sound of overhead birds fluttering home, their cries lost in the wind, and played with the pink hair of the kunochi before him. Yes, it was a rather peaceful scene. He yawned, his body aching numbly. Now he could just go home, bath, and --

He swerved abruptly to avoid colliding with a suddenly halting Sakura.

"What the he-"

He cut off his swear when he saw what had made her stop.

Oh no.

Oh no oh no oh no.

Up on the slope they were staggering up stood the all-too-familiar silhouettes of a pack of girls.

His damned fan group had found him again and better yet, seemed to have swelled in size.

_-WHAT THE HELL DO THEY WANT WITH ME!?!-_

"... What should we do now?"

What indeed. He glanced at his dismayed teammate and sighed resignedly. So their little stunt in the afternoon had only managed to convince some of them. Apparently almost all his fans- he gritted his teeth- had heard of it and had come to confirm it for themselves. The only good side of the whole thing was that at least they didn't rush to cling on to him as they usually did. By the amount of strength he had now, he would probably buckle and collapse and god knows what they'll do then. He half-heartedly calculated their chances of getting away by force. It was almost hopeless, seeing that he was almost drained of energy. He could already see Sakura's frame trembling slightly from sheer exhaustion, though her chakra levels were superior to his at the moment. He sighed again, ran through his limited options and made up his mind.

Unsteadily, he reached out for Sakura's arm. "We can't run so we'll have to go through them. Pretend we're still... together."

Emerald eyes widened in amazement as he pulled her close and moved her arm to sling around his neck, his own arm doing the same. Thanking the heavens for the orange-pink glow of the sun which hid his reddening face, he added, a bit too defensively, "It worked the last time, right? We have to use each other for support or we'll be too unstable."

It was logical. It was rational. It was the only reasonable solution. Sasuke cursed his body for liking it. Damn hormones.

-----------

If this was any other day, Sakura would be in high heaven. If she hadn't been through with him what she had been through, she would be squealing and clinging on to him with Inner Sakura encouraging her all the way. And if she didn't better understand him as she didn't in the past, she would have asked _the _Uchiha Sasuke out for a date as soon as he finished speaking.

But it _was_ today, she had been _him _with him, and she _did _understand him better than in the past. Still, there was no denying the furious blush that had treacherously spread across her face as Sasuke pulled her closer to his side and leaned against her while they struggled up the path. He was right that their walk would be easier if they used each other for support- her complete exhaustion had made her wonder whether she would even make it to her home. If I'm tired, imagine what Sasuke-kun must be feeling, she thought wryly.

_Sasuke would get most of the fatigue and temporary chakra loss anyway- you'll just be the transition branch..._

Kakashi-sensei's words echoed in her head and she tried not to lean on the raven-haired boy so much. Despite their close proximity, he was still as reserved as ever- unemotional dark eyes not even glancing once in her direction. _Of course he wouldn't be, _she tried to convince herself_, he just did this to get out of the whole mess. It doesn't **mean** anything to him..._

_But it does to me,_a stubborn voice answered. She forcibly shoved away all her hopes and illusions and ignored her rapidly beating heart. Together they walked up the road, looking to all the world like a tired young couple with arms affectionately slung around each other's shoulders. She would have laughed if she wasn't so darn weary.

"Sakura," Sasuke's head turned and she found herself staring into tired inky eyes. "You can lean on me. If you try to walk on your own, you sway too much."

She flushed from his rebuking tone and shyly hooked her arm around his neck more firmly, her weight counter-balancing Sasuke's one as she leaned against him. For a second, a strange look crossed the Uchiha's face before he turned his head away quickly. Sakura tried and failed to stop the heating of her cheeks and slow her heartbeat. This was seriously beyond her wildest fantasies- the notoriously solitary Sasuke Uchiha _voluntarily _holding on to her.

In her confusing concoction of emotions Sasuke never failed to evoke, she almost forgot the reason why they were in this position in the first place. They were already reaching the impressively large fan group when she realized their mistake.

-------------

That subtle natural perfume of her pink hair was distracting.

Sasuke tried to clear his head of it and gritted his teeth at the unconscious movement of her body against him. Ignore her, he ordered himself, she's just a means to an end. She's always just been a means to an end, nothing more. His body kept telling him otherwise.

"Sa-sasuke-kun?"

"What?" He snapped, then cursed himself when he caught a flash of surprised hurt on her face. He forced away his irritability at the whole situation and got a grip of his usual indifferent calm. "What?"

She nodded up to where the group awaited. "They aren't letting us through."

He lifted his head to where the pests where. She was right, unfortunately. All the girls weren't opening up to let them through. He sighed irritably. "I'll deal with them," he said shortly.

They swayed to a stop two feet from where the group stood standing uneasily. Sasuke flickered his eyes over the whole lot. Most of them already looked disheartened, if incredulous, at their close proximity and were starting to move away from the group. Then one of them stepped forward, chin raised up high and violet eyes flashing fanatically.

Sasuke's temple started throbbing. He could recognize this girl.

"SASUKE-KUUN! YOU CAN'T REALLY BE GOING OUT WITH _HER_!"

A finger pointed dramatically at his teammate beside him. Irritation rose in him but he kept his voice coolly even.

"Yes. I am. Now get out of our way."

The girl seemed only slightly discouraged. Instead, to his horror, she ran forward and flung herself on him, eager hands wrapping themselves around his already occupied neck.

"But Sasuke-kuun! I thought you didn't like her! Go out with me insteeead!" She wailed in his all-too-sensitive ears.

Sasuke couldn't believe the nerve of the girl. If it was any day but today, she would have hell to pay. He staggered under her weight, trying to keep standing while using Sakura as a support. He felt her hands slip down from his neck and grip his waist firmly, giving him better support while preventing his groping hands from reaching his kunais. He choked in the heavily scented perfume the fawning idiot had drenched herself in before managing to shove her off.

"No! Get lost. Stop following me!" He managed to snarl out the words in between coughs and gasps of sweet, fresh air.

_-Oh...for a kunai...-_

Sakura, on the other hand, seemed to have managed to read his mind and had fished out all his kunais while he was busy choking. He swayed while he regained his balance, one arm leaning heavily on Sakura. He was really, _really_ exhausted. All he wanted to do was go home and forget the entire day but no, he had to deal with this. He glared at the pouting fanatic, who then had enough sense to turn to the kunochi beside him instead.

"Haruno Sakura! I thought you were going out with that dead-last guy!"

Sasuke felt a vague feeling of satisfaction when Sakura blanched. She tossed her head, bringing that faint intangible scent of her hair to his nostrils again.

"Naruto? Of course not. I've never gone out with him; he's just my friend."

But her voice lacked the usual exuberant energy and he could see the idiot mistaking their tiredness for uncertainty. He bluntly interrupted her joyous accusations before he really lost his temper.

"She's mine. Get over it." His voice was monotonous, but cold. He had enough. "We're leaving now. Don't get in the way."

And he pushed past her and all the entire watching group, pulling a surprised Sakura along. This time, no one dared to interrupt the brusque passage of the dark-haired avenger and his proclaimed companion. Maybe it was the cold glares that did the trick.

He let go of Sakura's arm as they turned the corner and automatically slipped them in his pockets. His shoulders drooped. He was sick of dealing with all his love-struck fans and today was the last straw. The throbbing in his temples had spread throughout his head. At least today's incidents were over pretty quick, he reminded himself tiredly, and he didn't have to resort to any illusionary jutsus either. He had half a mind to keep pretending he was going out with Sakura.

_-Why not...-_

His pink-haired teammate spoke up behind him then. "Sasuke-kun?" He turned to see a swaying Sakura blinking dull green eyes owlishly up at him.

_-Kuso, I forgot what little stamina she had. She must have used up all her energy trying to keep me standing just now...-_

"Sasuke-kun? Could we...we... support each other again..." He could see her struggling to stand upright and alarmed, he caught hold of her before she could collapse. Her large green eyes were half-hooded as she fell against him. "I... don't feel..."

Then her body grew slack. He waited a while before he shook her gently. "Sakura? Sakura?"

She had fainted.

He sighed resignedly and gathered up the last remnants of his strength to half carry, half drag her to the tree on the side of the road. A cherry blossom tree. How appropriate.

Only faint tinges of oranges and pinks blushed the horizon when he had slumped himself beside her slumbering form, and the encroaching ashen blue-grey of the transition between day and night was already darkening the sky. He checked her chakra level and found it to be comfortingly steady. She was just sleeping the deep sleep of sheer fatigue now. He sighed again, enjoying the quiet stillness of their surroundings and stared up blankly at the sky above him.

What a day. Too many things had happened. He slowly ran through all possible developments in the days to come, the fog in his mind making his thoughts sluggish.

Dimly, he watched his surroundings gradually hush in a blue shadow around him, and then darken to a blue-black. The road was almost deserted, and he didn't know where she lived. _Soon_, he promised himself wearily, _I'll take her home soon, after I rest._ Time slowed to a stop, the seconds dragging into minutes. He shifted her body so his own half shielded her from the cool evening breeze and his own body heat warmed her. The faint scent of sakuras and the unique, indescribable scent of her hair filled his world again and his eyelids grew heavy.

In his torpid state, everything seemed simpler. The day's happenings faded from his mind and all that mattered was here and now. Sakura sighed in her sleep and he drowsily pulled her closer to him. After all, no one was watching.

He had dreamt of missions, Itachi, his curse seal, and a certain laughing petal-haired kunochi before dark oblivion finally consumed him and he gratefully fell into dreamless sleep.

Maybe tomorrow, he could take her home then.

_---------_

_The rare passer-by smiled when they saw them- a dark-haired boy and a pink-haired girl slumbering under a blossoming Sakura tree, their black clothes merging together. _

_When she woke in the night, she found his arm around her waist and her panic changed to relief that she wasn't alone. And she smiled, because he cared had enough to stay. _

_For her, for now, that was enough._

* * *

**A/N**

Yosh. Hopefully the ending isn't too rushed and abrupt-- I was trying to finish it that night.

But enough about my life history- check out my profile to find out more about the ficts I have and the upcoming ones. I update it frequently though irregularly.

Constructive criticism always welcome, per usual yada yada, as are all feedback.


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